


Enjoy the Ride

by 2NEHaru (boobtude)



Category: Persona 4, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 17:09:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6965821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boobtude/pseuds/2NEHaru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Given the option of returning to Inaba after the events of Persona Q,  Minato takes his chances and joins the Investigation Team at Yasogami High.  His choice to switch worlds leaves him with a more complicated destiny than he could have imagined, and nothing could have prepared him for the impact that this decision has on his new life. Minato slowly comes to realize just how much his fate was linked to the enigmatic Yu Narukami.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enjoy the Ride

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter takes place after the second labyrinth of Persona Q, and the following chapters are based around the story of Persona 4, as changed with Minato's presence in the mix.

Minato Arisato stood in front of a glowing blue door in the halls of Yasogami High. Well, the parallel version of the high school, at least.

It had been a while since he was last summoned to the Velvet Room, but Margaret insisted that the matter was urgent. He opened the door and squinted at the bright light that came out. It was always hard to get used to that, especially when his other eye was covered by his bangs most of the time.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room.” Margaret greeted him with the usual line while lounging on one of the couches in the center of the room.

“It isn’t as nice to hear that when you force me to come here,” Minato remarked. He took a few steps into the room, not yet willing to make himself comfortable.

“I suppose not,” She set her big book of arcana cards down. “Regardless, I’m pleased that you came. We have much to discuss.”

“Yeah, that’s what I don’t get.” Minato shrugged, keeping his hands snug in his pockets. “You’re Yu’s assistant. What could you possibly need me for?”

“Believe it or not,” Margaret replied indifferently. “You have more to do with my guest than you could even begin to imagine.”

Yu Narukami. He thought about it. They had clicked the instant they met, probably because they had a lot of the same experiences to talk about. Other than that, Minato believed that he couldn’t have less in common with the guy. Yu was charming in the kind of way that made him impossible to hate. Minato, on the other hand, had quite a few enemies. Any charisma he had, he imagined came from all of the time he spent hanging around his local coffee shop.

“Do you remember where these two doors lead?” Margaret stood up and motioned to the doors on her right, covered in padlocks and chains.

Minato didn’t like being quizzed, but decided to cooperate anyway. He wanted to get this whole thing over with as soon as possible.

“The blue one leads to my world, and the yellow one leads to Yu’s world. Any more questions?”

“One more,” Margaret rested a hand on one hip. “What are your choices, as far as this world is concerned?”

“There are two, I guess,” Minato replied, bored. “We could probably stay in this parallel world, which no one wants to do anyway, or we go through all of the labyrinths and unlock our doors so we can leave this place.”

“You’re missing one.” Margaret commented once he finished.

Minato raised an eyebrow, to which she proceeded to explain her logic.

“There is a third option.”  
“What?”

The clicking of Margaret’s heels echoed throughout the room. Minato watched intently as she pulled away one of the deep blue curtains hanging off the wall, revealing a big stained glass door. The designs in the glass showed a black silhouette stepping into a light, and as the design ended at the bottom of the door, the figure joined a white silhouette by the hand. There were plenty bright colors in the door, but none that revealed what would happen once it was opened. He could have spent hours captivated by the designs on the door, determining what story it was trying to tell.

“No one said anything about this door before,” Minato spoke as he walked up to it, carefully poking at the glass with his finger.

“That’s because it didn’t appear until recently,” Margaret replied before he could inquire on the topic any further.

“Then why tell me about it first, instead of Yu? He’s your ‘hero’ anyway.”

“Yu caused this door to appear. Telling him before you would only complicate the situation further.”

Minato frowned, turning back to give her a confused look. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Margaret sighed, returning to her seat. “I had hoped to get through this with as little explanation as possible. I should have accounted for you not being as… willing to play along, as my guest.”

Minato stayed close to the door, as if worried it could disappear. “How did Yu cause this?”

“The appearance of this door was triggered by a single event: the formation of a social link between the two wild cards.” She opened her large book of arcana cards, setting two fool cards on the coffee table in front of her. “Your card was destined to break. That was your fate, originally. It seems that the existence of Yu in your life is significant enough to bend your fate to his will. That is the power of his wild card.”

“Do you always talk like this?” Hesitantly, Minato made his way to the couch opposite of her. “All I got was that our social link made a door of fate, or something like that.”

The corners of one of Margaret’s eyes twitched, a sign of impatience cracking through her icy demeanor. “You are meant to die in your world, Minato.”

For the first time since he left Iwatodai, Minato felt fear crawl up his spine. He froze, managing to keep his outward expression vacant. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Margaret pursed her lips into a thin line. “It’s complicated, and it is forbidden for me to tell you the details. This is why I didn’t want to explain it in the first place. If you understand that your journey in Tartarus ends with your death, that is enough.”

When Minato didn’t object to her warning, she continued to lead the conversation to her liking. “This is where the third option comes in. You can go through with your original fate and go back to the home you left behind. Of course, you are also able to stay in this world, where time doesn’t exist. Lastly…”

She paused, grabbing one fool card and placing it on top of the other. “You can live freely, yet reject your fate all the same. Going through the new door would mean leaving your world behind to follow Yu.”

Minato considered it. “What would happen to my friends?”

“They’d forget about you.” Margaret held up the two fool cards. “The fate of your world would remain unchanged, regardless of your choice. The only event that this door can alter is your existence in that world.”

“Right…” Minato gripped at his head, feeling a headache coming on. “I need time to think about this.”

Margaret placed the cards back in her book as he stood up from her seat. “Yu is the only one who would be able to remember any of the events that transpire here. I’d suggest discussing the matter with him.”

Minato began to leave, glancing at the stained glass door once more before he exited the Velvet Room. He stood still, battling with his thoughts in the middle of the hallway. Why did this have to happen to him? As far back as he could remember, there was never anything special about him, aside from his power to defeat shadows. He liked his old life of exploring Tartarus and battling shadows with his friends, oblivious to the future that awaited him. Some part of him wanted it to last forever.

He wanted to be angry that he was brought to this parallel world and stuck with these choices. He wanted to scream and pretend like it never happened, as if it would help him return to the life he came from. As much as he tried to let himself feel bitter about it, he’d think about meeting Yu for the first time and couldn’t even imagine regretting it.

“Minato?”

Minato locked eyes with Yu, who looked as surprised as he did.

“I guess you were in the Velvet Room,” Yu spoke again, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “I was looking for you.”

“Great. We both need to talk to each other then.” Minato sighed quietly, pointing towards an empty classroom nearby. “Let’s go somewhere quiet.”

Yu nodded and followed after Minato, closing the classroom door behind them. “Is everything ok?”

“Not really.” Minato sat on top of one of the desks, pinching the bridge of his nose as the throbbing pain in his head worsened. “You should go first. Anything I have to say is going to be weird.”

Yu looked increasingly concerned. “I came here because Elizabeth told me you needed to talk to me.”

He moved over to where Minato was, sitting in the chair of the desk opposite to him. Minato felt his headache become more pronounced as soon as Yu offered him a small, comforting smile. Sometimes, interactions with Yu were confusing like this, and made him feel like his head was spinning. He hated feeling tense around Yu, but couldn’t figure out why he had so much trouble shaking the feeling off.

“Minato, what’s going on? Elizabeth said you had an important choice to make, and that I was the only one who could help. Tell me what to do, and I’ll help.”

“I wish you could tell me what to do instead.” Minato grumbled, closing his eyes. “Did Elizabeth tell you about the third door?”

When Yu shook his head, Minato continued. “Next to the two doors that lead to each of our worlds, a third one appeared, thanks to our social link. This one leads back to your world, but only the two of us can use it.”

Yu perked up, not yet fully understanding the situation. “So, you’d be able to go Inaba with me?”

“Permanently. At the cost of my existence being erased from the world I came from,” Minato replied. He clenched his fists in his lap, stumbling on words as he explained the rest. “I… was meant to die, in my world. If I go back there, my original fate will happen. Either way… there isn’t any place for me in my own world.”

“Minato…” Yu stared at him in shock. He stood up, reaching over to pat his shoulder. “I’m sure there’s an important reason why you had to die in your world-“

“So I’ll go back and die then.” Minato growled, shrugging off Yu’s hand. “I don’t care, either way.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Yu held onto Minato by both shoulders in response. “I don’t want you to die!”

Minato could feel his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. Something in Yu’s expression left his mind blank. Yu looked over him for a moment, then let go of his shoulders and took a step back.

“Sorry,” He spoke gently, apologetic. “Don’t say that you don’t care when it comes to your own life, ok? We both know that isn’t the truth.”

Minato winced slightly, wrapping his arms around himself in comfort. “Back in my world, I honestly never cared whether I died or not fighting the shadows. Then all of a sudden, I come here and freak out over having to choose if I’m ready to die yet. Everything is so damn confusing now.”

“If you entered the door with me, you’d have to leave behind everyone and everything you knew,” Yu spoke, apprehensive. He turned back to Minato. “It’d be selfish of me to ask you to do that.”

“It sure would make things easier if you made the choice for me,” Minato replied.

“I can’t do that.”

“I know,” He admitted.

Soon enough, Minato hopped off the desk, pulling his mp3 player out of his pocket. He turned on the music to help himself relax, though Yu couldn’t help but feel calmer as well when he heard the faint beat echoing from the headphones.

“Take whatever time you need to think about it,” Yu suggested. “In the meantime, why don’t we enjoy the festival? Everyone else seems to be having fun doing that.”

Minato nodded in agreement, to which they left the classroom together. He didn’t particularly care how they spent their time here, but he liked following Yu’s lead. He always seemed to know all the right things to do in a situation that looked pretty damn bad to everyone else.

* * *

 

“Has anyone seen Yu around?” Yosuke asked while balancing a few empty bowls on top of each other. Yukiko and Yukari were his only customers left for the afternoon, so he’d made sure to serve them whatever odd requests he could take care of with the festival’s food supply. Despite all of his complaints about it, he seemed to like running one of the food stands in the festival.

“I saw him talking to Elizabeth a few hours ago.” Yukiko blew at the noodles hooked onto her chopsticks. “He must be busy today.”

“I haven’t seen Minato lurking around like usual either,” Yukari added, taking a bite of her cake slice. “Maybe they’re busy with leader-type work?”

“It seems like they’re always doing that here.” Yosuke slid into a seat at their table, setting the bowls down. “Those two get along almost too well.”

“Are you jealous, Yosuke?” Yukari smirked.

“Hell no!” Yosuke objected, losing his composure. “What’s there to be jealous of?! I’m still Yu’s best friend!”

“That’s obvious,” Yukiko chimed in, setting her chopsticks down. “I don’t think Minato is trying to compete with you.”

“Agreed.” Yukari waved a hand dismissively. “Minato probably wouldn’t compete for anything even if his life depended on it.”

“Like I’m going to let you beat me at a stupid gun game!”

At the sound of the familiar voice, the three peered down the hallway, finally noticing Yu and Minato busily playing at one of the festival booths. The two were fiercely engaged in a toy gun battle, shooting down targets with enough speed to come close to Aigis’ level. Even from a distance, Yu was clearly the more accurate of the two, while Minato’s plastic bullets ricocheted off of most of the targets in a speedy fury.

“Why is your aim so bad?” Yu teased. “You’re the one who came into this world pointing a gun at your own head! Don’t you use it all of the time?”

“That’s not exactly how it works,” Minato huffed. He continued shooting rapidly at the targets until he ran out of bullets. “What’s the result?”

Yu lowered his gun to count the bullet total. “45 points for me. 15 for you.”

“You’re kidding.” Minato rose an eyebrow, then looked over the bullets himself. “…Or not. Was my aim really that bad?”

Yu gave him a playful nudge. “Let’s just say I’m glad your gun isn’t real.”

Minato stumbled forward at the gentle push, smiling only a little. “I’ll prove you wrong if we play another round together.”

After reloading their guns, the two soon got back to their friendly competition. Yosuke, Yukiko, and Yukari watched the scene unfold with quizzical expressions.

“Yeah, ‘busy with leader-type work’. Sure,” Yosuke commented bitterly under his breath.

“It was a guess!” Yukari retorted.

“Minato’s aim really is terrible!” Yukiko was desperately holding in an oncoming fit of laughter.

“Don’t you start!” Yosuke warned, pulling away to go back to the table. His mood suddenly soured.

“You’re totally jealous, Yosuke.” Yukari sat back down, a smug look on her face.

“And you’re totally making things up!” Yosuke shot back at her, glaring. “They can hang out all they want! It’s not bothering me. I’m always going to be his partner.”

“It sounds more like you’re reassuring yourself.” Yukari rolled her eyes. “Besides, I get this feeling that those two have something unique together.”

Yukari’s observation only made Yosuke’s attitude worsen. “There’s nothing unique about playing festival games together!”

“That’s not what I meant,” Yukari returned to picking at her cake slice. “I rarely see Minato smile like that. I can’t say much for your partner, but it’s kind of refreshing to see our leader look so happy.”

Yosuke frowned, picking up his empty bowls. “Yeah. I hate to admit it, but Yu was having a good time too.”

Yukiko walked back to the table, tapping her chin in thought as she spoke, “Watching those two reminds me of something, I know it. I can’t think of what it is right now, though…”

A few minutes later, Yu approached the food stand with Minato close behind, still evidently bitter over his devastating gun game losses.

“Hey, guys,” Yu said with a wave. He furrowed his eyebrows at Yosuke. “You really like working at this stand, don’t you?”

Yosuke took the empty bowls to the sink, letting out a mocking laugh. “Yeah, right. I hate it.”

“So he says, despite coming here every day to take care of our teammates that come in.” Yukiko noted with a smile.

“You two sounded like you were really enjoying yourselves over there,” Yukari said as she looked over them. “It was cute.”

“It was horrible,” Minato corrected her. “Yu kicked my ass.”

Yu shrugged. “These games are a good way to relax with everything that’s been going on.”

“True.” Yukari finished off her last bit of cake. “ Once we settle this, Minato and I will have to go back to dealing with Tartarus and all of those shadows.”

Minato visibly tensed. The guilt flooding over his expression was lost to everyone but Yu.

“We’re definitely making progress in these labyrinths. That’s a good thing.” Yu quickly changed to subject to spare Minato from the extra stress. “We cleared the last one easily.”

“Dude, I was trying to erase that Group Date Cafe fiasco from my head,” Yosuke chided him.

“I thought it was fun.” Yukiko munched on her noodles. “I never would have guessed that Yu’s soulmate was Minato.”

“Yukiko, it was obviously fake!” Yosuke remarked.

“It was fake?” Yu pondered.

“Of course it was fake!” Yosuke spoke as if he was trying to convince a group of toddlers of his opinion. “The badly photoshopped wedding photo, the creepy priest shadow, it was all some twisted game the labyrinth set up in order to kill us.”

“That may be true,” Yukari added. “But Yu answered the questions honestly. Soulmates or not, these two have some kind of crazy destiny in store for them, don’t you think?”

Yu and Minato turned to each other. Yosuke couldn’t have looked more irritated if he tried.

“Sure,” He replied. “If we’re lucky, it’s nothing that’ll get anyone killed. Try not to get my partner into any trouble, Minato.”

“Your partner?” Minute questioned, feigning innocence to get Yosuke riled up. “Who’s that?”

“Oh, come on! It’s Yu!” Yosuke threw his hands up in frustration. “I swear, you’re as bad as Kanji. I’m going to have to keep an eye on you.”

“Ew,” Minato responded.

“Excuse me?!” Yosuke’s eye twitched in anger. “You’d better watch how you talk to the leader’s partner!”

“I thought you were the one who was going to watch me.”

“Ugh! You’re impossible!” Yosuke shook the water off his hands, then turned the faucet off. “I don’t know how you deal with him, partner.”

At Yosuke’s expense, Yu found the exchange entertaining. “I thought you were dealing with him pretty well.”

“Optimistic as always.” Yosuke walked past the table, motioning for Yu to follow.  
“I’m going to make sure Kanji and Teddie aren’t destroying anything. Wanna come?”

Yu appeared troubled. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I have to help Minato with something.”

This wasn’t the answer Yosuke was looking for. He looked hurt for a split second before his eyes narrowed in distaste.

“Yeah. Sure,” He grumbled coldly before he walked off.

Yukiko broke the awkward silence that settled over the table after Yosuke’s exit. “Don’t feel too bad about it, Yu. He’s had a rough day.”

“I’ll talk to him about it later,” Yu said. “He’s right to be upset. I haven’t spent any time with him since we got here.”

“You guys really have been in your own little world since you met.” Yukari grinned. “It’s kind of funny to watch, especially for you, Minato.”

Minato scrunched up his nose. “What’s so funny about it?”

“You’re usually so reserved. It’s like Yu is dragging you out of your shell.”

“I haven’t changed at all.” He stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets. He then turned up the volume on his mp3 player with a casual flip of his hair. “See?”

Yukari deadpanned. “There’s no doubting that.”

Minato nodded, pleased with her answer. He walked away, nonchalant. “Good. I’ll see you around.”

Wordlessly, Yu stood up and followed after him.

“Like clockwork,” Yukiko mused, watching them leave.

* * *

 

“Wait up,” Yu called out. He rejoined Minato at his side when he slowed down.

“You could have gone after Yosuke,” Minato said, lowering the volume of his music. “It’s mostly my fault that he’s pissed off anyway.”

“He can wait.” Yu watched as Minato gripped his head in pain again. “I can’t leave you alone like this.”

“I’ll live,” He retorted, rubbing his temples.

Yu shook his head in disbelief. “The teacher’s lounge is nearby. Let’s head in there so you can sit down and relax.”

Too focused on his headache to protest, Minato allowed Yu to lead him to the lounge. It was a small room that their team rarely used, but it made a good substitute for a cafe while they were stuck in the parallel world.

“Let’s see… the coffee should be somewhere around here.” Yu searched the cabinets in the room for an empty mug.

Minato took a seat at the table, observing as Yu did his best to figure out how to work the coffee maker. It was an older model that you’d only find in a small suburban town like Inaba, so anything Yu did with it was probably safer than what Minato would’ve done. He remembered Yu telling him about coming from the big city to live in Inaba only a few months ago. Despite that, for some reason, Minato still had a hard time imagining Yu as anything but small town kind of guy. It was almost endearing to watch him act like he knew how to work the appliance, when it was obvious that he knew as little about it as Minato did.

“There we go,” Yu announced triumphantly once the coffee maker started making noises.

Minato smiled to himself, if only for a moment. Definitely endearing.

“You don’t have to worry so much, you know,” He said, slumping over to rest his head on the tabletop. “I’ll feel better once I make a decision.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Yu leaned against the counter.

“You can already read me like a book?”

“Nah. It’s just a feeling I have.”

Minato picked his head back up to look at Yu. It was clear that he already had him figured out. The way that Yu seemed to see right through his vacant expression made him feel vulnerable. At this point, he could swear Yu Narukami was a mind reader.

“You know what I’m going to choose then,” Minato concluded.

“Your reaction to Yukari made it clear,” Yu explained. “Even without that… I can tell you aren’t ready to die yet.”

“Clever as always, Detective Narukami,” Minato conceded.

“I’m nowhere near Naoto’s level,” He joked, taking a seat across from him. “So what do you want to do about it? Your friends don’t have a clue about any of this.”

“And I’m going to keep it that way.” Minato rubbed his face. “I can’t tell my friends, Yu. They’d lose it. I want my last memories of them to be good ones.”

“I get it,” Yu assured him. “I’ll keep it a secret.”

“Thanks,” Minato muttered.

Looking at Yu right then, he felt small and useless. Yu was a real leader. Minato thought back on himself as the SEES leader and realized that he never had any idea what the hell he was doing. He’d gotten along with people well enough, but he could never come close to Yu’s level of understanding towards others. Yu valued his friends tremendously and had a good sense of what to do to make everyone in his group feel appreciated. Some part of Minato was jealous of him for it.

Yu’s expression hardened in determination. “Minato… I meant what I said, back at the Group Date Cafe. I’m going to protect you, so don’t feel like the whole burden is on your shoulders.”

Minato turned his head so that his bangs hid his expression. “We’re not actually married. Like Yosuke said, it was fake. You don’t have to do all of this to make my life easier, because I can handle myself.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Yu reassured him. “Either way, we’re stuck together. You’ll need someone to get you started in Inaba-”

“And that someone is you?” Minato interrupted.

“Definitely.”

Minato let out a short, weak laugh. “I give up. You’re the impossible one here, not me.”

Yu smiled with him. “Good point.”

He studied Minato’s face for a minute, then stood up, walking to the door. “I’ll go ask Elizabeth for some pain killers for your headache. I’ll be back later.”

Minato let his head fall into his folded arms across the tabletop. “Go ahead. I’ll watch your coffee for any java thieves.”

The room felt dead to Minato the second that Yu closed the door. While listening to the bubbling of the coffee maker, the throbbing in his head started to go away. The sides of his face began to feel wet. When he moved his fingers over to graze against his own cheeks, he didn’t expect to touch teardrops. He rubbed his eyes, blinking back tears. It didn’t make any sense to cry, but he felt all of his emotions surge through him at once, spilling over into choked whimpers. The anger at his futile situation, the fear of his own death, the heartbreak of having to leave his friends behind, and the frustration he felt about being too powerless to stop any of it. He broke into a sob, keeping his face hidden by his arms despite being alone in the room. He’d wanted to hide away from the world, and even though Yu had finally given him that opportunity, he’d still felt ashamed of himself. Minato hadn’t cried since the car crash that killed his parents ten years ago.

Meanwhile, Yu waited patiently outside the door. He willed himself to stay put while he listened to the cries and sobs he knew would break loose as soon as he left the room. He knew Minato needed this, and he knew that any interruption now would ruin the only time he had to let it all out. So Yu stood guard, redirecting anyone who would come close enough hear what was happening inside that room.

They went on like this for about twenty minutes, until the crying turned into a quiet calm. It left a mentally exhausted Minato in its wake, hunched over the table as if nothing had occurred. Yu did the same when he walked in, shaking the bottle of pain killers with a gentle greeting. He humored him, even though both of them knew he no longer needed them.

After that day, Minato was rarely troubled with a headache.


End file.
